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Busy Bees

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With snow and rain saturating much of the nation, it may be hard to believe that spring is right around the corner. If you are aching for the first signs of the season, but don’t have the cash to spend on a tropical escape, consider these fun and affordable projects that will really get your kids buzzing:

Printed Bees: Your kids don’t have to be mini Picassos to decorate your home with pretty flowers and busy bees. To make a vibrant spring mural, have your children draw a bunch of flowers with crayons, markers or colored chalk on a piece of construction paper or poster board. Then, have the kids dip their thumbs into yellow paint, and press gently on the mural. When the paint is dry have them draw black stripes and wings on the thumbprints to transform them into bees. If you don’t have construction paper handy, use leftover cardstock or scrapbook paper and have the kids decorate them with the thumbprint bees to make spring-themed greeting cards or bookmarks.

Stamped Bees: Repurpose old potatoes by turning them into bee stamps. Simply cut a potato in half, and then carve a few thin strips in the meat of the potato. Next, dip it in yellow paint and press the stamp on black construction paper. When you are done, the body of the bee should be yellow and the black paper should act as the bee’s stripes. To create the wings, have your kids dip their thumbs in white paint and press them on the construction paper.

Bee Magnet: Whip up a batch of inexpensive salt dough by combining two cups of flour, a half cup of salt and three quarters of a cup of hot water. Next, use a flower-shaped cookie cutter to make blossoms. Microwave the flower-shaped dough creations for three minutes. When the flowers are cool to the touch, have your kids paint them, and then add a fingerprint bee on top. When the paint has dried completely, glue a magnet to the back of the design.

About Michele Cheplic

Michele Cheplic was born and raised in Hilo, Hawaii, but now lives in Wisconsin.
Michele graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a degree in Journalism. She spent the next ten years as a television anchor and reporter at various stations throughout the country (from the CBS affiliate in Honolulu to the NBC affiliate in Green Bay). She has won numerous honors including an Emmy Award and multiple Edward R. Murrow awards honoring outstanding achievements in broadcast journalism. In addition, she has received awards from the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association for her reports on air travel and the Wisconsin Education Association Council for her stories on education. Michele has since left television to concentrate on being a mom and freelance writer.